Ready, set… dial!*

Published: August 16, 2012 at 2:05 PM

*Update: Note the time change below. Disney will begin taking reservations via phone next week for the new Be Our Guest Restaurant in the newly expanded Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. You can call 407-WDW-DINE for reservations starting at noon 7am* Eastern Time on Monday, August 20. Reservation times will begin with dinner on Monday, November 19, and you can reserve any time between then and up to 180 days from the day you call.

Remember that Be Our Guest, the "Beauty and the Beast"-themed restaurant that's the largest original development in the new Fantasyland to date, will accept reservations only for dinner. At lunch, the restaurant will be counter-service and first-come, first-served.

Reservations won't be available via Disney's online reservation service until Aug. 22, so if you want to get in for the first few days the restaurant is open, you'll need to call. (And I've got a free Theme Park Insider T-shirt and signed copy of "Stories from a Theme Park Insider" waiting for the first Theme Park Insider reader who posts a descriptive review of the new restaurant, with photos, after it opens November 19.)

Let's note that Disney's not announced any restrictions on who can make reservations for the 19th and the days leading up to the "official" opening of the expansion on December 6. Does this suggest that the expansion will have a public soft opening during that period, instead of the restricted soft openings we saw at Cars Land in California? We'll see.

Replies (4)

I don't get it with this new restaurant. It isn't a selling point with the New Fantasyland. There already is a fine dining restaurant in the Castle. Why the emphasis on dining when there are few new rides?

Cinderella's Royal Table has lost some mystique as a fine dining establishment inside the Magic Kingdom. It's far more style over substance, and a microscopic dining room makes it a pretty tough ticket. Not only that, but it now costs 2 table service credits on the dining plan for a less than stellar menu.

This new restaurant should bring some legitimacy to the dining scene in the Magic Kingdom, since there are only a few places worth mentioning in this park.